


Comfort

by riddlerhymes



Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware, Half-Life
Genre: Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:52:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24103948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riddlerhymes/pseuds/riddlerhymes
Summary: gordon is stressed and can't sleep, benrey's trying to be nice but also has some troubles
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 14
Kudos: 278





	Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> honestly didn't put a lot of effort in this but its also supposed to be pretty lax. mostly just an idea i had after thinkin bout what's under benrey's helmet

it was too quiet, for being in a facility falling apart, ridden with violent creatures and trigger-happy military. too quiet, aside from the freeman tapping his foot faster than a fucking turbine.

the group had stopped in an emptied-out hall to rest a while, try to get some sleep before continuing the agonizing journey out of the hell black mesa had become. the rest of the science team had, in fact, fallen asleep, but gordon was too tense and worried, lost in his own head to the point that a good sleep felt like a fuckin fairytale. he'd thought everyone else was asleep at this point, failing to notice benrey was sitting up opposite from him, staring. 

"you're not asleep." it's said blankly, like everything benrey says. "why you still awake, bro?"

of course, gordon by nature was pretty upfront and had a tendency to ramble, set off by small statements. like this one.

"i'm too fuckin' stressed for this, man. i just-- i just wanna be home already, i don't want to deal with- with all this alien monster bullshit! i've been shot at and attacked and almost blown up more times than i can count at this point, i just wanna get home in one piece and know my son's okay, i just-- i just wanna be able to calm down, man, i don't know.. i'm too stressed and tense to even think about sleeping right now."

benrey moves to sit beside gordon, idly staring forward while he rambles on. he's never been great at dealing with emotions or stress or anything, especially in relation to another person. _so what would **he** want someone to do if **he** were this stressed?_

his eyes dart down to gordon's hands. they've been fidgety the whole time the guy's been rambling, basically going a mile a minute.. probably itching for something to focus on. before he can think of anything else, benrey's saying the first thing that came to mind. 

"hey man you can like, put your hands in my hair if you need something to, uh, occupy 'em. if you want." and immediately, he remembers he'd have to take his helmet off for that. _dumbshit stop saying the first thing you think of. he's gonna see your stupid bald spot if you do that. that was the dumbest shit you just offered._

gordon's startled by the offer, obviously not expecting it, but benrey can't really tell if he comprehended what was said. but, stubborn as he was, benrey couldn't just retract the offer, so he went ahead and removed his helmet. "here, man, just like, uh..." he wasn't sure where he was going with that.

a side-glance at gordon was timed exactly as the guy reached out to put his hand through benrey's hair, making his chest tighten a bit. this was a bad idea, he was putting himself in a place of vulnerability and basically displaying that stupid insecurity that not even _tommy_ knew of, and he didn't even have a reaction planned out for any mockery or rejection.

what isn't expected, though, is gordon just oh-so gently running his fingers through benrey's hair, completely quiet. he doesn't look weirded-out or anything, more like he was testing the waters here. like he looked while working on an experiment. lack of a negative reaction seems to ease him and he starts idly running his fingers through the thinning hair on the back of benrey's head... and just, keeps playing with his hair.. looking a little less tense, at least.

this eased benrey a bit, too, not having the spot on his head mentioned.. now he was just thinking about the situation in general. him and gordon, sitting awake while everyone else sleeps, and gordon playing with his hair in the most stupidly soft and tender way. it was making his chest tighten, but in a better way than before? weird. felt like that was all he could focus on. 

gordon starts talking again, and benrey doesn't catch the first half of it but sort of, gives the illusion that he's heard it. just looking at the guy, you could tell he'd calmed down a bit compared to a few minutes ago.... and he yawned. good sign, maybe he'd be able to sleep soon. can't escape an underground lab without rest, right?

maybe his arm was getting tired, too... benrey figured it'd been a few minutes, holding your arm up like that it'd probably get tired, so.... he shifted over to lay his head in gordon's lap. maybe gordon didn't care, or he was too tired to care, or something, but either way he didn't stop petting benrey's hair like it was the softest thing out there.

"you _**are**_ tired, huh? well i guess-- i guess we all need our energy, huh buddy?" now gordon looked like a month's worth of exhaustion hit him all at once, benrey'd noticed while looking up at him. the bags under his eyes and the bit of stubble along his jaw kind of complimented each other, though. made him look a little like a, hot mess, or whatever.

oops, he hadn't responded yet.

"yeah i guess. you should try sleeping now, bro, you might be calm enough." but no response came. the guy'd already conked out as soon as he'd finished mumbling, unsurprisingly. looking at gordon's face, without the stress of their situation weighing on him, felt way softer than what benrey was used to. he kept thinking of the word weird, but really, that's the only way he could describe how it felt. 

gordon's hand was laying limp in benrey's hair now, and it was kind of... comforting, in a way. all he could think of was grabbing that hand, maybe holding it a while. if he did that, though, he might wake gordon and lose the chance to just get a good look at his stupid face.

"hm.... _weird_."


End file.
